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Twitter client Rowi updated to version 2.0

Rowi, one of the most popular third party Twitter clients for Windows Phone, has been updated to version 2.0. Updates include support for fast app switching (better multi-tasking), readability integration for viewing webpages and saving bookmarks, a new context menu (tap on a tweet to carry out common tasks), and the ability to pin any home timeline, new tweet, new tweet #nowplaying, new message and search to your start screen.

There are improvements to the app in almost all major areas. The home view now includes photos previews, includes retweets in list timelines, has new column types (retweets, favourites and more), and has a new reading style which automatically marks tweets as read as you go. The tweet screen (accessed by tapping view on the context menu) now includes expanded URL information, retweet details and a conversation view.The new tweet screen now include a character counter, improved image service support (Lockerz, yfrog, Twitter, TwitPic), and an option to tweet the title of the music you're currently listening to (#nowplaying).

Overall app speed has also been improved significantly, emblematic of an app that with its second major release feels slicker and more intuitive.

Also is impressive is that the degree to which the app's settings allow customisation of the user interface. For example, the context menu can be set to open with a tap, or with a press and hold; conversation details can be set to automatically load when you view a tweets details; and the behaviour of the app in automatically setting tweets as read and how the timelines are positioned can also be specified. What this means is you should be able to configure Rowi to behave the way you want it to, rather than fitting your usage and thinking to the way the app behaves, which will likely make Rowi the preferred choice of Twitter power users.

More details on the update, including a full change log, are available on the Rowi website. The developers also say that they are already hard at work on the next update, which will include support for The Nest (sync data across platforms and devices) and an instant notification service (e.g. for messages and mentions) built on the Windows Azure platform.

Rowi can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Marketplace. A free trial is available, with the full application costing £2.29/ $2.99 / €2.99. An ad supported version of the app, Rovi Lite, is also available. The Lite version is also missing notifications via toast and live tile updates for mentions and/or messages.